In terms of narrative, David Fincher’s Panic Room (2002) – written by David Koepp – is a brilliant action-thriller that keeps the audience on the edge of its seat, right until the final frame. In terms of its treatment of women, however, Panic Room basically encompasses all the reasons I have trust issues when it comes to men making movies about women. By its third act, it has built a complex, formidable portrayal of a capable woman taking charge of her own situation - and then it erases it all with one shot, and one line of dialogue. Talk about an anti-climax.

As Panic Room begins, we meet Meg Altman (Jodie Foster), and her 11 year old daughter, Sarah (Kristen Stewart). We learn that Meg is recently divorced from her husband, Stephen (Patrick Bauchau), who r...